The weak strongman, Ukraine is winning, robot wars, the Escapist origin story

Odds and ends, volume 2

In an influential 1959 book, Erving Goffman looked at life through the lens of theater.

“When an individual plays a part he implicitly requests his observers to take seriously the impression that is fostered before them,” the sociologist wrote in The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. Some people are “fully taken in” by their own act and believe that it is real; others cynically perform their part knowing in their hearts that it is fake.

In his hit TV show, The Apprentice, Donald Trump played the part of a fabulously successful entrepreneur. In his two terms as president of the United States, Trump has played the role of a strongman. We may never know if he believes this role reflects his inner reality, or is faking it.

But he is certainly investing his energy in attempting to assemble the strongman image. Trump is sending troops to American cities…